Mamdani Wins Mayoral Race in New York: First Setback for Trump’s Policies
(Translated)

Al-Rayah Newspaper - Issue 573 - 12/11/2025
By: Ustadh Ahmed Al-Khatwani

Zohran Kwame Mamdani won the mayoral election in New York City, the largest city in the United States, held on November 4th. He became the first mayor of America's most important city to belong to the progressive social democratic movement within the Democratic Party, the main rival of the ruling Republican Party. His victory was by a wide margin over his closest competitor.

Mamdani is a 34-year-old American, former rap musician and graduate of Bowdoin College, a private liberal arts college. His father is of Indian descent, from a family that outwardly professes Islam, but in reality belongs to the Nizari Ismaili sect, which is not recognized by any of the major Islamic schools of thought as part of the jama'ah (community) of Muslims. His father, Mahmoud Mamdani, is a well-known university lecturer in the United States, while his mother is a Hindu filmmaker. Secular values ​​prevail in his family, and religion has no significant influence on their social relationships.

Zohran Mamdani is a staunch advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, including those related to homosexuality and transgenderism. He personally raised tens of millions of dollars through groups affiliated with his faction within the Democratic Party to support LGBTQ+ individuals, under the guise of promoting equal rights for all segments of society.

Mamdani easily defeated all his rivals in the election, despite receiving $22 million in funding from several billionaires for his main opponent. Furthermore, Trump's numerous threats against his candidacy failed to halt his political rise.

This victory was considered the first political defeat for Republican candidates since Trump’s rise to the presidency, and it represents the first real setback for Trump’s policies, which had swept the American political scene in his first year in office.

The main reason for Mamdani’s victory was not his having a Muslim name, an immigrant, or even a democratic socialist. Instead, the real reason for his win was the broad support he received from the Democratic Party, a support that united all its factions. Mamdani is, in fact, an official member of the Democratic Party, although he belongs to the left-wing socialist wing, the weaker wing of the party.

His campaign platform, which championed the poor and supported public institutions, was one of the most important reasons for his victory, in a society deeply fed up with the greedy capitalists of New York City. These capitalists had impoverished the residents, plundered public funds, and privatized everything in the nation's economic capital for their own benefit and to further amass their wealth.

Mamdani called for making healthcare free for all and supporting government education, making transportation free for all primary school students, as well as freezing housing prices, raising workers’ wages, preventing the deportation of immigrants, improving public facilities, and taking taxes only from the rich. He considered the Scandinavian model and the welfare economy as a model in his election program, and called for granting workers greater powers in managing the state’s economic facilities.

This program, promoted by Mamdani, is nothing more than a version of capitalist socialism that has no connection to Marxist socialism, nor to the communism that Trump falsely accuses him of. He wants a return to capitalism tinged with some workers’ rights, so he introduced some socialist patches into the capitalist system, which in America has reached a horrific level of tyranny and is now controlled by a small handful of wealthy individuals who control every aspect of the world's largest economy.

Politically, Mamdani, like other leaders of the democratic socialist movement, opposes the American “Israel” Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the American Zionist lobby, and supports granting rights to the Palestinians. He considers the Zionist entity part of the American capitalist lobby system, allied with the lobbies of large corporations that support the Jewish occupation army’s aggressive practices in Gaza and the Middle East in general. His hatred for the Zionist entity’s criminal practices has intensified, especially after it was accused of genocide in Gaza.

His statements against the actions of the Jewish entity resonated with the American public, which was already angry at the brutal practices of Netanyahu’s government. The electoral base in New York found in him the right person to fulfill its ambition to reject the opportunistic American politicians who were biased towards AIPAC, which has become one of the most hated lobbies in America.

These are the main reasons for Mamdani’s victory as mayor of New York; the pent-up anger of the poor against the corrupt lobbies, mingled with the tangible economic needs of the city's residents. They found their answer in Mamdani’s economic and political program, which swept up the votes and triumphed over the political money spent by the corrupt lobbies to buy influence.

Mamdani’s victory marked a turning point in American politics. The wealthy were dealt a severe blow by their defeat in the New York elections, despite their experience, wealth, and lobbying power. The voice of the youth, the poor, and the marginalized prevailed. This seemingly minor shift in the political landscape of this great city foreshadows a radical transformation in American politics. The cards will be reshuffled, the rules of the game will change, and young people, liberated from the grip of corporations and stock markets, will begin to assert their political will over the established figures and aging elites of American politics. The principle of replacement will take hold, casting its shadow over an antiquated system that will gradually change, becoming more responsive to the genuine needs of the people, and no longer beholden to the whims of the privileged elite.

This transformation will have a positive impact on Muslims and all the oppressed peoples of the world. The grip of American and Western imperialism on the world will gradually weaken, international conflict will intensify, new global powers will emerge, and America will be deprived of its monopoly on international politics.